Can I Make a Second Common Application?
Better Question: Should You? How to Create a Balanced College Application List
As college admissions become increasingly competitive, many students feel inclined to create longer school lists in an attempt to boost their chances of admission into top colleges. The Common App caps students at 20 schools, and some students have identified that one workaround for this limit is to create a second account with a new email. However, increasing the number of schools to which you apply doesn’t actually boost your chances of admission, and it might do more harm than good.
School applications are no joke, and the more competitive a school is, the more those supplemental essays matter. If a student decides to apply to upwards of 20 schools without budgeting their time for the application process early on, they might find themselves rushing through those essays and submitting less-than-stellar work.
At Principia, we want students to feel empowered to make decisions about their application process. While we are more than happy to help ambitious students complete as many applications as possible, we also want to support students as they budget their time for applications, academics, extracurriculars, and internships over the summer and first semester of senior year.
Even if you do have time to apply to several schools, you might be giving yourself additional work without reason. Before you add a school to your list, consider whether or not you can actually see yourself attending that school. Are you applying to Duke because you like their curriculum, the courses available for your intended major, and the atmosphere of the campus? Or, is the reputation of the school your only deciding factor for applying? Our College Application Crash Course explores this in more detail, but highly competitive schools care a great deal about fit because they don’t want to set students up for failure—they only want to admit the students who would thrive most on their campus.
Here are our recommendations for considering your safety schools, target schools, reach schools, and “wild cards.”
Safety School:
Even for top students, having at least 2 safety schools is vital. Acceptance rates shift from year to year. For example, VTech’s acceptance rate dropped to 56% in 2023; what used to be a safety school for many is now a match school for some students. For that reason, students should research past admission trends and acceptances for schools they are considering. This includes admissions rates for their intended major, median SAT/ACT ranges, and median GPA ranges. A safety school will be any school where your GPA and ACT scores surpass the average range of most recently accepted students.
At Principia, we are always honest with students about their chances of admission. If you have questions about what qualifies as a safety school for you, we’re happy to offer guidance.
Target or Match Schools:
We recommend 4 to 6 target schools, or match schools, for most students.
Target schools are the trickiest to determine for many students. These are schools where your academic credentials fall right within the median range of the most recently accepted class of students.
A school is a target for you if it would not be impossible for you to be denied, but you have a fair chance of admission.
Reach Schools:
Reach schools are schools where your academic credentials fall at the lower end of the median range for recently accepted students.
We often advise that students apply to as many reach schools as possible, but “as possible” looks different for each student. How many essays can you feasibly complete before the school’s deadline? Have you researched every school you’re adding to the list? There’s a good chance you will be rejected from most of your reach schools—are you emotionally prepared to handle opening several rejection letters?
Additional Tips:
Apply early. Some schools have rolling admissions, which means you might hear back as soon as November with an admissions decision. Many students who hear back from these schools with an admissions decision early in the process feel more confident moving forward with the rest of their applications knowing they have an acceptance in their back pocket. You can pare back on the number of schools you apply to if you’re already accepted into your safety or even a match school before the November deadlines.
Remember, you won’t get into any competitive schools with rushed, sloppy essays. Take your time on these, and lighten your workload by being more selective with the schools you apply to.
